Henderson Park enters U.K. hotel market

Henderson Park has acquired to two U.K. hotel assets, marking the firm’s entry to U.K. hotel market.

Henderson Park has acquired a pair of hotel properties in the United Kingdom from Tonstate Group, which bought them in 2006 for £417 million ($542 million). The price tag has not been disclosed, but is reported to be approximately £500 million ($650 million).

The Hilton London Metropole is located on Edgware Road with close proximity to Paddington Station. It is London’s largest conference hotel by delegate capacity, second largest hotel by room count and one of Hilton’s flagship hotels in London with 1,059 bedrooms and 42 conference and meeting rooms.

The Hilton Birmingham Metropole is the United Kingdom’s largest hotel outside of London with 790 rooms and the U.K.’s largest conference hotel by delegate capacity with 33 banquet and meeting rooms for up to 2,000 delegates.

Hilton will remain engaged as operator.

The London hotel market has remained buoyant in the first half of the year according to Savills, as investment volume reached £1.1 billion ($1.4 billion); 55 percent of the U.K.’s overall total of £2 billion ($2.6 billion). International investment accounted for 68 percent (£756 million/$983 million) of investment into London’s hotels.

Savills predicts that investment into the London hotel market will reach £2.8 billion ($3.6 billion) by the end of 2017 and the U.K. hotel market will transact circa £5.1 billion ($6.6 billion) for the full year, up 28 percent on the 2016 total of £4 billion ($5.2 billion).